William wasn't surprised that the newcomer had picked up on Carl's slip-up. As his Realm grew higher, William noticed that his awareness was continuously increasing, albeit slowly. It was like a sixth sense for Cultivators, which grew stronger as one improved.
He could only imagine what it would be like in the Soul Formation Realm, four entire Realms above his own Cultivation. Perhaps this person could even sense the movement of a fly's wings as it prepared to take off.
-That's not necessarily the case.
-Request requires 5 Potential Points. Yes/No?
I didn't even ask anything, what is this about?
-Request requires 5 Potential Points. Yes/No?
Okay, okay. William confirmed the request without a second thought. The way the System reacted suggested it had something to tell him, but it couldn't do it outright. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on Nove1Fire.net
-He can read your heartbeats and has studied the emotional state of the body thoroughly. This is not his awareness, but an Innate Talent that improves his eyesight.
William was caught off guard by the System's explanation and considered the matter carefully. The enemy Cultivator was still looking at William with a pondering expression, since his entire mental conversation with the System happened in less than a second.
If it's his eyesight, I need to block it somehow...
William called a hint of Illusion Mana to circulate close to his heart, hopefully fooling the Soul Formation Cultivator's vision with an illusory heartbeat. It seemed to work, since the young man's eyes twitched just moments later.
"Heh, William you say? It seems you're also looking for him. That's weird, because I heard he was in the Far West Forest Region." William said with as best a mischievous smile as he could.
His hood was up, so the Cultivator could only see his smiling mouth, but it didn't matter since the Cultivator was currently focused on where William's heart should be. He frowned as his eyes dilated and zoomed in on the location, but the heart that should be beating rapidly to show anxiety had slowed to a perfect sixty beats per minute.
William's bodily reactions suggested that the young man had just told a funny joke, which didn't sit right with him.
"Perhaps I was wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that you've barged into our territory. If you're really looking for William, then you shouldn't be here either." the young man said after a brief pause.
William shrugged, "I sensed loot, so of course I came to investigate. Who knew that it was you rats hogging all the good stuff!"
"Rats? I'll have your head for that!" the man roared as he launched a spear of Light at William.
Being of the Light Element and thrown by a Soul Formation Cultivator, the Light Spear traveled through the air at breakneck speed, creating multiple afterimages.
William's time-slowing effect from the Reflexes Talent triggered instantly, but his body wasn't fast enough to dodge completely while carrying Carl. He made an awkward turn backwards to dodge, the spear flying overhead and tearing through his left shoulder just slightly.
William had the Forcefield Talent disabled up until that moment, but it was too dangerous to leave it inactive. He spread his Forcefield to the maximum, covering both himself and Carl in a blue and white hue while he prepared for a fight.
While his Illusionist's Cloak could defend him, it couldn't do the same for Carl.
"It seems I can't descend any further." he said as the torn sleeve instantly repaired itself. William was a bit surprised that the attack could actually damage his sleeves that were supposed to be invincible in the Soul Formation Realm, but he found out the reason upon further reflection.
The scene of the light spear flying through the air replayed in William's mind, but he noticed that a tiny bit of a dark substance leaked from the spear as it came in contact with William's cloak.
"Fusion Magic, of the Darkness and Light Element?" William surmised out loud, causing the Soul Formation Cultivator to take a step back in surprise. It was the only explanation for the damage to his Legendary Artifact that could even handle peak Soul Formation attacks.
When the Spell of one Element was combined with another, their strength was greatly increased, to a point where it could even cross Realms. Unfortunately, Fusion Magic was incredibly difficult, and William only managed to learn some of them with luck, while others were imitations of his opponents' Spells.
Like Yu Ren, for example. If she hadn't shown off the Meteor Spell to William, he would have struggled immensely to create a Spell of such scale. Now that he had someone else to showcase Fusion Magic, William became slightly excited.
No one has ever noticed that up until now, but then again very few have survived it. How did he know my secret after just one exchange?
"Heh, are you sure about that?" the Cultivator hoped to spark some uncertainty in William, but he didn't know that his opponent could replay his own memories repeatedly.
William laughed at the man's poor attempt at lying. It seemed that he could read the emotions of others, but his own emotions were plain as day.
"Is that so? Then you don't mind if I try it out for myself, right?" William replied as he gathered the Mana of Light and Darkness to his fingertips. While he was doing this, his mind was simultaneously replaying every step of the young man's movements, allowing him to duplicate the Spell, though at half the original speed.
It would take some time before William could rapidly cast this type of Spell, but the current version was more than enough for the young man to turn pale with fright.
-You said you wouldn't be using Light Magic with this identity.
Yeah, but it's fine. It's only one more Element, Yu Ren had like five, didn't she? I don't remember.
-How can you not remember with your current memory? That's just lazy. She had six Elements: Light, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, and Wind.
Thanks for the help System, I couldn't be bothered to check myself. Either way, you proved my point. If she could show off six Elements, why can't I use four?
-Because she's the granddaughter of Supreme Left, and you're a nobody.
Hey! I could say that I'm more than a nobody now! I'm even a Diamond-Ranked Adventurer, and that's just one of my many statuses! William argued.
-The Blacksmith Yuming is Diamond-Ranked. You're still technically Platinum.
Whatever, whatever. It's the same thing! I'm a level 9 Array Master too!
-And you're an Outer Core Disciple too.
Okay, shut up! I'm fighting right now. William chose to ignore the System and focus on gathering Mana for his Light and Darkness Spear.
The creation of the Spell took longer than before, but William had used a bit more Mana than the Soul Formation Cultivator did, and his various Titles improved the power of the Magic greatly, almost matching the strength of the previous spear.
Even without holding the Mana Gathering Staff, William's Spell broke through to the second stage of the Soul Formation Realm, while its corrosive abilities were enough to tear through the defense of even one in the fourth stage!